HKU ICB

Mathias Woo Yan Wai (Chinese: 胡恩威; born 1968) joined the arts collective Zuni Icosahedron in 1988 and is now the Executive Director cum Co-Artistic Director of the group. Woo is renowned for his creative career in multimedia theatre as a scriptwriter, director, designer, producer as well as curator with a portfolio of more than 70 original theatre works, which are best known for their unique rendering of space and technology.

Mathias Woo is a pioneer in Arts Tech Theatre in Asia and currently serves as the Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icosahedron. Since the 1990s, he has directed and designed the Multimedia Music Theatre Series, collaborating with renowned theater directors such as Stan Lai, Meng Jinghui, Edward Lam, National Theatre Company of China, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Theatre and Performance Workshop. His works include Head Without Nail (2002, National Theatre Company of China), 18 Springs (2003, National Theatre Company of China), Mumble Jumble (2003, Performance Workshop), 1587, A Year of No Significance (2006-19, Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Theatre; 2014, Wuzhen Theatre Festival), Tang Xianzu's Dream on Dreams (2007-17, Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Theatre), Like Shadows (2007, Performance Workshop), Remembrance of Karaoke Past (2010-11, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre), Eighteen Springs (2012-14, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre), and Red Rose, White Rose (2014-16, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre). 

In 2017, Woo initiated the Z Innovation Lab for stage innovation and the Twin Lab in collaboration with the Zurich University of the Arts, combining theatrical experimentation and creativity with cutting-edge technologies like motion capture, soundscape systems, and telematic performance.

Blending Arts Tech with traditional performing arts, Woo has worked with Kunqu artists such as Zhang Hong, Shi Xiaomei, Ke Jun, and Zhang Jun, as well as the Peking Opera's Guoguang Opera Company of Taiwan. His theatre works include Good Wind Like Water (2003), Sigmund Freud in Search of Chinese Matter and Mind (2002-16), A Tale of the Forbidden City (2009-17), and Lord Guan Yu on Stage (2016-17).